After Tense Discussion With South Fork High School’s Principal at Wednesday’s Basketball Game, Andy Olsen Abruptly Resigns as Athletic Director

Andy Olsen with Karl Terril, Defensive Coordinator, when South Fork High School’s 2017 football team won the championship. [Photo by Jeff Henderson from South Fork High School’s Facebook page.]

Wednesday evening, Andy Olsen, South Fork High School’s Athletic Director for 14 years as well as its Head Baseball Coach and Football Coach and a former student at the school, resigned abruptly.

Olsen explained that on Wednesday at a home basketball game, he and Cyndi Aguiar, the South High School principal had a disagreement on what Olsen called a student safety concern.

“The major issue that took place was the orientation or placement of our school band,” Olsen said. He believed the area where the band was to play in the school’s new gym would create “a major safety issue.”

He worried that student athletes would “get pushed into a drum set or an amplifier.” He added, “Me being ordered to move the basketball placement to accommodate the band wasn’t right. It was not a concert..It was an athletic event. It was my role to make sure our student athletes are protected as much as possible.”

Olsen said Aguiar told him to make that change or the game would be cancelled. Olsen said he refused and left the premises. “”I resigned on the spot and left the gymnasium….If that person in that role wants to order me to do things I know are unsafe and incorrect, I’m not going to put our students in situations that can be disastrous,” Olsen said.

Saundra Stephenson, the music assistant, said the whole situation was problematic. She explained, “The principal was advocating for our kids–the band kids…It was unfortunate that [seating the band was] not worked out in advance…I could see it wasn’t a good place….It was obvious that we needed to move.”

But, Stephenson pointed out, “Setting up takes over an hour to do.” They were already partially set up. Not only that but, she said, just not playing this time would have been frustrating for many as “more than half of our band are Junior High students that had to make special arrangements to be there.”

In the old gym, a section of bleachers had been left pushed against the wall which had allowed an area for the band to play, Stephenson said. But the new bleachers don’t have that option.

She said that a suggestion was made that the other team’s bleachers be pushed up so the band could play there. “I feel like just for that night it would have worked,” she said. “But they didn’t want to do that. I think they didn’t want to make those bleachers unavailable to the other team’s fans.”

After, Olsen left, Stephenson said, the band set up partially in the bleachers. Being seated there wasn’t ideal, according to Stephenson. The drum set, the guitar, the bass, the amps, etc. were not meant to be used in this situation. So those musicians had to be squeezed in next to the bleachers and in front of the girls’ locker room. In addition, in years past they had been told not to sit in the bleachers as it took room away from the fans.

Stephenson said she felt badly that Olsen resigned. “I appreciate Andy he’s a great guy and he was in our band way back when,” she explained. “I feel like it was something that could have been worked out. It was upsetting.”

On Thursday, Olsen sent the following letter of resignation:

Hi all,

I am saddened that the time has come for me to write this letter. As of Wednesday January 10 at 3:25 PM, I am resigning from my positions of Athletic Director, Head Football Coach & Head Baseball Coach at South Fork High School.

This is not a decision that I am happy about nor did I expect to happen, but at this time is a necessity. I have given 14 years to South Fork High School as a Coach/AD and truly intended on giving more. Things have changed. When the time comes that you lose support from administrators it is time to no longer associate yourself with that situation. I feel extremely terrible for the kids( past, current and future ) all 217 of them that I have had the privilege of having on the teams I have coached over the said 14 years. I apologize if I am letting you down, but would hope that I have and am appreciated for the years of service that I gave to the Southern Humboldt Unified School District.

From here on all athletic concerns can be directed to:

Cyndi Aguiar, Principal

South Fork High School…

It has been a pleasure to get to know all of you,

Regretfully,

Andrew Olsen

Don Boyd, Southern Humboldt Unified’s District Superintendent, praised Olsen’s hard work over the years. He said he didn’t need to give the school’s version of events if Olsen had already spoken. “I will trust what Andy told you,” Boyd said. “I have respect for him.”

Boyd said, “After the interaction, the band was moved into the stands…and they tucked [the drum set] on the side of the bleachers.” He said that when the principal called him, he told her to “show the head official the setup…She told me she did that, he okayed it, and they played the basketball game.”

He then went on to say that there was a core reason behind Olsen’s resignation. “In a nutshell, he does not feel he has the support of the administration,” Boyd said. “If he was not feeling supported, ultimately that falls on me.”

Boyd went on to say that Olsen had “taken on too much.” This, Boyd said was “just necessity. Because either someone wouldn’t do it or couldn’t do it…There is a lot of responsibility [in the Athletic Director’s job.]” Boyd then listed numerous tasks Olsen took charge of–everything from rescheduling, to coaching, to seeing to student athlete’s well-being. “Andy did all of that,” Boyd said. “Attending pretty much every event–even away events….That is not the norm that I am used to.”

Boyd said, “It is hard for me to believe that the average [Athletic Director] does all that.”

Boyd said that in the “short term, I will be acting Athletic Director.” He said that “moving forward, I will be asking of our coaches to take on responsibility of their individual sports.” He feels that this will help lessen the tasks and time required of the Athletic Director. Then, he said that while he is managing the position of Athletic Director, “We’ll fly the position. We’ll start internally. If we don’t get anybody, we’ll open it externally.”

Meanwhile, there is a movement among some parents to protest Olsen leaving.

Cinnamon Paula, a parent at South Fork, said, “Parents have been reaching out with concerns about the future of athletics at South Fork High School. Some want to protest at the school. Others are petitioning that the principal not be hired back next year. Andy made a tough decision and families are looking for ways to show him their support.”

Michelle Bushnell, a business owner in Garberville said, “I worked with him for five years when I was booster president. What a great job he did, and cared so much about his athletes.” She said, “We have a school board meeting on the 18th at Weott School [at 4:30] for anyone that may want to support him.”

Paula said that she is encouraging parents “to write letters and come to next week’s board meeting. [I’m] not sure what the actual protest plans are, but I don’t personally want to encourage taking attention away from the game, just thinking of kids…It’s hard enough on them.”

First thing I would like to say here is this is not the format that is most appropriate to share this with you all, but it is probably most effective and quickest way for the community of Southern Humboldt to see this.

With that said here goes…

The last 43 hours has been extremely though for me. The decision to walk away from a familiar place after spending half of my life there was not easy and extremely painful. But it is my decision. The constant battle in doing what I have always believed to be what’s in the best interest of the students has not always been easy or enjoyable. But I am proud of the results. I enjoyed each of the 22 sports teams that I had an opportunity to coach and loved each and every one of the 217 students that called me “Coach”. I appreciate the opportunity that was given to me back in the fall of 2004 by the Southern Humboldt Unified School District, and especially Karl Terrell For bringing me on board 14 years ago. I appreciate all the community support throughout the years and especially the huge amount of support the last two days. I know many of you are angry, I’m angry, but we must all move on. Rather than spending time and energy on me, I would like to see that redirected to what is most important….the kids. They need you all. I would hope that somebody, or a group of people, can step in immediately and resume the vacancies that are currently at South Fork so the kids can continue to have the best possible experience at South Fork. They are what is important, not me. I hope that all parties involved can move on as quickly as possible so the athletic program at South Fork will continue to survive and thrive.

In conclusion, I wish the students and South Fork nothing but the best.

69 comments

The School Board needs to take immediate action and suspend or fire the Principal as her lack of judgement has pretty well destroyed the faith that the Students have in the Administration. This same kind of stupidity on the part of the Administration is effecting the Students at the Fortuna Union High School District.

Oh good! It sounds like the 2 of you should run for school board! I am sure that every board member would be grateful for someone else to take a turn at this volunteer job. They stay because no one else wants to do the job. You can get a packet to run at the office of elections in Eureka. I believe they are due by late spring and you will be on the ballot in November! Or you can just keep pointing fingers and blaming others…

Hmmmmm tough call. Gotta do what ya gotta do but walking out sounds a bit selfish. Really appears like this was a preventable situation that escalated quickly . Bummer for Paul and Saundra and the pit band which were obviously no part of the design thought processes that went into the brand new gym. (Why not????) And bummer for the principal . And especially a bummer for the kids.

What this is not good Andy does so much for our school and he’s part of our school it’s crazy nooooooo!!!!!! F that principle and music teacher its not there call it was his for the safety of those kids on the court!!!!!!!!!!!!what the hell’s wrong with you if someone would of got hurt it’s on our school but you don’t even care enough, and to run Andy off is really wrong , but this principle gots to go back to where she came from and for the music teacher beep him get a life!!!!!!!

It’s good to see Coach Olson getting the support he deserves. It seems he has done all he can to keep it together at SF but it’s a shame they no longer have 11 man football or youth football. The community should step up and let the kids play out there youth rather than have them working in the Marijuana industry. They can do that the rest of there lives if they choose to do that. There is a big enough population in SoHum to support football but not enough community support. SF used to be a great place to go on Friday nights and they were always tough. Bring back youth football and 11 Man JV and Varsity. The rest of the HDN-L will be better off!

Haha! This speaks volumes about what is really going on at SFHS! If it weren’t for Colleen, we would probably still have last year’s principal doing a fine job. But colleen didn’t liked him so she went running to daddy. Next thing you know, we have no admins. And Colleen can continue to NOT do her job correctly. She’s not even certified to do the job she’s being paid for! She needs to put up or shut up!

If the band was setup where a player could run into or fall into the band, I have to agree with the coach. The principal threatening to cancel the game due to poor planning by the staff was absolutely wrong. Punish the kids for a staff screwup? The coach walking out on the spot seems a bit meatheaded though.

If you knew Andy you wouldn’t think he was a meathead. You would know that he has dedicated much of his time to the students of South Fork. I might add his father and mother have contributed a lot of time and dedication, as well.
I wasn’t there but if Andy walked out spontaneously, that took a lot of anger. Anger is something I’ve never witnessed in Andy. What a loss.

As a long time educator and administrator, I have seen how in many smaller schools athletics takes precedence over many other extra curricular activities….Music and Drama being the two that come to mind. ALL KIDS MATTER…not just the athletes. That being said, I feel that this situation could have and should have been handled differently. I believe that the AD had the safety of all students in mind, and I also believe the principal was standing up for a group of students who are typically under represented.
As they say, “Hind sight is 20 20” maybe in the Gym design more thought should have been put into where the band would be and less into the mini restaurant. People can eat their nachos on the bleachers.

Mr. Olsen (whom is one heck of a great guy) was simply overloaded like ALL of the staff at South Fork High. This is all a direct result of the school board’s refusal to hire a Vice Principal. It doesn’t stop there, the school board constantly neglects the needs of both the staff and students. As a result of a huge lack of resources and overwhelmed teachers, the education being offered is less than mediocre. My student (and several others) have reported that they have witnessed the new Principal speaking to the staff in a very aggressive and hostile manner. It seems that the only staff member whom is thriving through the storm is Ms. O’Sullivan (whom obviously finds this funny). Wake up Ms. O’Sullivan, it is not funny that the kids lost an AD and a coach!! But you aren’t worried are you, your job is nice and secure! Nepotism at work constantly. This community needs to get rid of this School Board and their relatives in order for South Fork High to be a school that I want my child to attend. Looks like AR is getting another South Fork student next year!

Go Coach! Standing up for your principles is the best lesson any student could learn. May they never forget your strength of character that kept them safe from harm and safe from the unprincipled.
My hat tips to you good sir!

The community needs to come together, come on people for our kids look what he has already done in the past 14 years but and dedicated his time mowing cleaning, making sure more then what he’s expected to do is done for the kids, we can’t let him go!!!!!! And this principle wouldn’t ever do what Andy has done for our school but kids, I’ve experienced it my self with my daughter when there was a situation and I confronted the principle and she just said it’s not her job, I got really frustrated but put it aside for the daughter and just believe that karma will get her, but Andy our kids need you!!!!!!

Terrible situation but quitting isn’t really the best way to teach the youth how to handle things. Stop the game under protest, ok. But come one now let’s try to show kids how to handle adversity without being a quitter.
Look at it this way, someone will have to step in and fill his shoes and now they will coach a group of kids that watched their coach quit because it wasn’t going his way. I wish this was better thought out for the be benifit of the lesson it ultimately teaches the kids. IMO of course.

you’re calling him a quitter? He didn’t make it halfway through a season, he made it 14 years. He’s a real calm and level headed individual who has undoubtedly put up with allot of BS in his time so I’m sure his hand was forced in this situation. I think it’s excellent to show kids that you don’t have to put up with someone spouting nonsense and expect you to listen to it like they are god. if I was still going to south fork I would do my best to get all the players to boycott in protest.

Don’t judge him for the one time he did quit, instead appreciate him for the several hundred (thousand) times that he did not quit! Then step up and go find a part time, under payed job at a local school just because we desperately need someone to do these jobs. If we had all available jobs filled in the district, we would have a better success rate with employee retention. We have a good, workable superintendent, we just need to shop for a better fit principal.

The “mini restaurant” aka Cub Cafe aka Snack Shack is a huge part of the South Fork Booster’s income which pays for ALL athletics at SFHS and MJH. Without it, we would not be able to provide these opportunities at the schools and there would have been no reason to do the upgrades to begin with. That is why it is necessary. The music program is also paid for with fundraising and donations primarily from the Schools Foundation. Pretty sure the district has very little out of pocket expense for these programs because a small group of dedicated community members have made it a priority to provide funding for these programs for the whole community. Again, maybe some of you should start participating in the planning and design of these things!

St. John was brought in to address certain problems with faculty, staff, and students. According to critics, South Fork had too much of a casual attitude. I had just transferred from Fortuna, I thought it was great. St. John was way over the top, heavy handed in his approach. He survived the uproar, but I believe he was gone in about two years.

So sorry to hear this has all happened. My Grandson just started jr. high & is in band. He’s loved learning music & supporting the teams as he has always played sports. I’d heard the were really no accommodations for the band & I find that sad that the band can’t have an area in the bleachers to be there in support & to also play for the fans too. At our high school the band was always center stage in the stands & never any problems. Too bad this can’t be worked out for all involved.

The loss of Andy is a huge loss to SFHS. Reading these comments makes me sad to hear of the discord at the school I loved. I retired last year from the Science dept and Andy was always one of the kindest and most caring people I had the privilege of working with. This was a man who believed the education of the students was of utmost importance. He would always work with me even to make sure the dates of the baseball and softball games wouldn’t conflict with my marine Bio field trip every spring. The loss of Andy is indeed a great loss to the students and staff of SFHS. Thank you Andy for all your dedicated service!🙁You will be missed

I am reading a lot of comments that are narrow minded and that are really offensive.
This community needs a huge wake up call in the education department. The local High School ranks a 2 on an education scale of 1-poor and a 10-excellent. Let that sink in…

Perhaps focusing on keeping a principal for longer than one year, or reversing the teaching staff turnover would benefit the local educational institutions. I understand the sports are important as they teach unity, teamwork and perseverance. It’s time the communitys focus should be on enriching the kids brains though knowledge and teaching self respect.
I also wonder why we are not talking more about the boys and girls who are doing drugs on the school busses or the constant bullying that results in these children getting sent home with bruises and emotional damage?
For a small community there should be more unity in the positive rather than when unfortunate situations occur. It seems your priorities are not in the right place folks!
Also to the folks with their un educated and unrefined writing skills using profanity and verbally abusing others at the local school is a form of bullying. My mother always said “if you haven’t anything nice to say, do not say it at all.”

I do not consider myself well educated and my sentence composition is barley adequate, mainly thanks to a education at south fork. However, uneducated is one word. If you plan on acting condescending at least don’t be a hypocrite in the same sentence, let alone the very word you are attempting to insult people with. I don’t know it just screams that your writing is unrefined. Also calling people uneducated and unrefined is closer to elitism than being respectful to others.

I agree that all of these things are a problem. I have a solution. Go fill one of the vacant positions in our district and alleviate the stress on those who have been doing the hard work all along. And I generally try to keep it to nice or nothing at all. We have gone beyond that point in the district for many years. This principal is not a good fit. I have no problem saying to her face that I’m sure she would be a good principal somewhere else. SHUSD is not that place for her. And this situation with Andy is a perfect example of why more people need to be proactive rather than reactive. The best way that anyone here can honor Andy Olsen and truly show their appreciation for all of his hard work is to go to the school Tuesday and ask what they can do to help make this transition better for the kids.

As a student at south fork I know how important all these people are. Andy has contributed so much time and effort into making sure our athletics programs run smoothly and Paul and Saundra also have so much dedication to the music program. These groups may be opposites but they need each other. Football games, basketball games, rally’s, they’re nothing without each other. It was a rash, rapid decision on Andy’s part and it is an absolute shame to lose him but we’ve all had problems with administration in the past and we always will have problems so I can understand if he’s fed up but I can also see Cyndi point of view. Now South Fork loves it’s sports and cancelling a game last minute would be insane but I know that Aguiar does not mess around with something insignificant like that. We all want the safety and well being of students and everyone on the South Fork campus and something reasonable could have been arranged. When Cyndi introduced herself to our classes on the 3rd day of school she was friendly and nice and she told us her life story and we laughed and talked. What you may or may not know is that she’s administered at some of the biggest districts in California and some of the smallest. She does not want to mess around. I can respect that, if she wants something to happen, it’ll happen. A few weeks into school we were having a drug problem (typical) and she marched into every classroom just like the first time we met her but she did not meet us with hugs and smiles, she was pissed. She told us what was up, she would call the cops and press charges on anyone who got caught with illegal substances on her campus. After explaining to us the consequences she let out a big smile and in the cheeriest voice said “well I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day” and gave that same speech to the next class. She does what has to be done and at least I can respect that.

Yes, she likes to talk. A lot. Particularly about herself. I am not seeing positive action. Just a lot of positive and negative talk from her. When she wants action, she calls the Sheriff to come handle it. They are still unsure why they have been called to the school so many times with her. She treats kids who make bad choices like criminals, punishment (suspension) or manual labor. She does not believe in trying to teach a kid how to be a better person and make better choices so that they don’t grow up to be a criminal. But that’s just part of my experience with her.

I am also a student at South Fork. A senior. Personally, I don’t really care for Aguiar. She has never introduced herself to me, nor has she told me her life story. I know her for calling the cops in response to a dress code violation and blowing her whistle at kids while screaming for them to get to class during break. She’ll say “Hi!” to me in a perky voice when she passes me in the hallway, but I doubt she knows my name. In fact, I didn’t know her name until just recently. I just referred to her as “the new principal.” I have no doubt she’ll be gone next year. Since my time being a high school student, we haven’t had a principal that stayed more than a year and a half. Yes, it’s horrible. But I’m going to graduate this year with a 3.85 gpa and good SAT scores. South Fork is capable of producing smart graduates. We’re not all smoking weed on the bus or whatever. In fact, take a look at some of the kids that have graduated the past few years. A few were accepted to such as Stanford. Many went to UCs. Andy will be missed. He had a huge role in our school, but Cinnamon is right. If you have a problem with something, get involved. Do something about it. If not, just know the kids aren’t all suffering.

It’s unfortunate that this incident has left such a big void in South Fork athletics, both on the administration side, but also on the coaching side. Andy lived and breathed South Fork athletics. Ultimately, student safety has to be the primary concern, and the AD is the person in charge in the gym during athletic events. Andy cares for all the students, and was a band guy himself. He was trying to make sure everyone was safe. For Andy to have walked out, it had to have gone far beyond just the safe placement of the pep band. I hope that the South Fork and Southern Humboldt community can come together for the students and help fill the void that is left in Andy absence.

I don’t understand why the band needed to be there in the first place. It was a basketball game. Andy is a great guy and coach too many hours in and not appreciating him isn’t ok. I’m a parent here at the school and I’ve done my time. Always a protest with the certain parents but they don’t step up. Always the same parents doing it all. The principal is great and sweet every time I’ve seen her. Sad Andy is gone he’s going to be missed.

Yikes. Andy is/was an asset that SFHS will be hard-pressed to replace. This will hurt the school for years to come…
The SFHS A.D. job is a thankless one. You don’t do it for the money. Add in 2 head coaching gigs, and all the time spent at practice , travelling, scheduling, coordinating the budget, ordering uniforms & gear, attending every event, and what you essentially have is an underpaid “volunteer”….a true asset.
Due to the isolated location of the school, the travel distances for every single away game, the uniqueness of the So. Humboldt community, the lack of availability for good coaching, etc. I hope all involved realize how lucky we were to have a guy like Andy as the A.D. and Coach of TWO teams. Schools with a high turnover at this position are usually a mess. What a shame. The repercussions of Andy leaving with linger at SFHS for a long time….Despite having devoted 14 years – he is still young and was looking at the next 14 years at SFHS… Tragic.
Maybe a sincere apology from the Principal and a promise to communicate better and acknowledge, going forward, the authority vested in the A.D. position will bring Andy back.
Bringing Andy back ought to be the first priority. At least try.
The Principal is the boss. Good bosses delegate. Andy’s job as A.D. should have provided him the “say” in this matter, and a good boss in situations like this would have perhaps voiced his/her opinion, but then ultimately accepted the decision of the person who’s decision it is/was. (The A.D.)…..
Maybe she could have said to Andy. “If you can allow the band to stay here for this game, I will make it a priority to develop appropriate band seating for the future….before the next game….”
Surely, Andy has a lot of pride in his role as A.D. He deserves some respect and authority.
If a boss treats an employee like a chump, that employee has no choice but to sing that Johnny Paycheck song.

i played in HS band and we sat in the bleachers every game…reduce the size of your guitar amp…and have the drummer set a 3 piece kit…it works…ive done it…not the most comfortable or the best for band eye contact…but it works..

Andy has always only cared about the popular sports….didnt he help design the gym!?!…should of thought about it before. Instead of complaint there’s no room. Sounds like a cry baby. No one cares u went to SFHS. What was his overall record as a coach anyway. Looks scrubby anyway….lead by example. 8 man football what t a joke!

He dropped down a league so they could win when they had enough players to compete in hdn. When was the last time we had anyone play pro or even scholarships for college sports….but build new gym…all the bells and whistles…while art and music have notbing…whitlow getting ppl to donate money for music…priorities are all backwards there.

…”while art and music have nothing..”???? FYI the music room was completely renovated as part of the gymnasium project including two new soundproof practice rooms. And this was done AFTER the entire high school campus had been fully renovated.

You have no idea what you are talking about. You are either trying to create more conflict or you really are out of touch. none of the points you tried to make were accurate. Who the hell cares if someone went pro or even played in college its about the high school experience and building character that help shapes who you become.

As a SHUSD Alumni K-12 SF Class of ’75 and lettered in many sports, IMHO, this resignation was an excuse, not the reason? Why would you resign over one dispute like this? I do understand his argument, however, don’t understand the outcome.

Maybe Andy could become the new Athletic Director at the Southern Humboldt Community Park Sports Field Development Project (CASH -Community Athletics Of Southern Humboldt)? The Park Board wants to move all the private youth sports teams down there, e.g. baseball, soccer, football and skateboard…